Record card controlled machine



Sept. 1, 1942. L. s. HARRISON ETAL 2,294,751

RECORD CARD CONTROLLED MACHINE IN gflZOR ATTORNEY Filed June 8, 1939 Patented Sept. 1, 1942 2,294,751 RECORD CARD CONTROLLED MACHINE Laurence S. Harrison, Bronxville, and Otto Weltmann, Johnson City, N. Y., assignors to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 8, 1939, Serial No. 277,974

3 Claims.

This invention relates to record card controlled machines and more particularly to such machines wherein continuous operations thereof are effected as long as record cards are present in the machines. Heretofore, in record controlled accounting machines of the Hollerith type, record card operated levers have been provided for controlling the operation of associated contacts, which con,- tacts in turn'are effective to maintain control circuits conditioned for rendering the record card feeding means operative as long as cards are present at the card lever stations.

It is now proposed to eliminate the use of card operated levers and contacts for such and similar purposes. The present invention comprehends the use of specially formed record cards, for example, cards provided with a suitable coating or layer of electrical conducting material, which cards are effective by their presence to alter the predetermined capacity characteristics of a control device in the machine and thereby control the conditioning of the control circuits of the card feeding means.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention electrical conducting plates are provided to form part of the card guides and are connected in the grid circuit of an electronic device so that the said device is conditioned for certain control purposes whenever cards are presented to the said plates in the card guides. Normally, that is whenever no cards are present in the machines,

the electronic device is conditioned to be conthe card guides the card feeding means is maintained in an operated condition, but upon failure of feeding a coated card thereto the operation of the card feeding means is interrupted.

Therefore, one of the objects of the present invention resides in the provision of a record card controlled circuit, the capacity characteristics of which are such, when record cards are in close proximity to predetermined control elements included in the circuit, as to maintain the record card feeding means operative as long as the cards are presented to the said control elements.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of means whereby the usual record card controlled levers and contacts are eliminated from the 'machines.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of record card controlled means where-v by an electronic device is conditioned for controlling the operations of the card feeding means.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which discloses, by way of example, the principle of the invention and the best mode, which has been contemplated, of applying that principle.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a rear view of a record card provided with a vertical coating of conducting material.

Fig. 2 is'a sectional view of a multi-ply record card showing a coating of material between the paper plies.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a record card feeding mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of one of the card guide plates.

Fig. 5 is a circuit diagram of the machine.

Record cards Referring now to Fig. 1 the reference character I0 designates the usual and well known Hollerith type of tabulating card. 0n the back of the card a coating of suitable electrical conductive material It is applied on the entire vertical section of a predetermined area of the card. The usual index point positions are provided on the opposite face of the card for determining the designation of the data designations. As shown in the figure this area is arranged to be centrally located on the card and extends from the top to the bottom of the card. This coating may comprise different metallic materialsor may consist of a carbon or graphite solution which is sprayed thereon. It has been determined that the following solution is quite satisfactory not only regarding the electrical characteristics thereof but also regarding the application of the solution to printing operations for printing, by mechanical operations, the vertical stripe on the back of the tabulating cards:

Per cent by weight Aquadag 34% 28 Glycerine 18 Water 36 'Alcohol 18 Referring now to Fig. 2, a section of a multiply tabulating card is shown to comprise an upper ply l2 and lower ply l3 of suitable paper which are secured together by any suitable type of cementitious material. One of the plies of paper is shown to be coated with a suitable conducting materlal M. The card actually comprises three layers or plies of material, the two outer plies comprising the standard stack of paper used for tabulating cards of this type and the third or central ply comprising the conductive solution. In connection with the multi-ply cards, it has been determined that the following solution is highly satisfactory for such purposes and formed a highly uniform and conductive coating on the paper:

Per cent by weight The Aquadag constituent in the formulas set forth comprises acolloidal graphite solut.on of m the strength indicated.

Record card feeding means With reference now to Fig. 3, a brief description of the card feeding means will be given, since the feeding'means and operating means therefor per se form no part of the invention the present disclosure and description is deemed sufflcient, reference can be made to U. S. Patent No. 1,976,- 617 for a detailed description of this well known mechanism. The record cards C which are placed in the feed hopper of the'machine and generally indicated by the reference character |5 may be of either type described herein and shown in Figs. 1 and 2. From the feed hopper the cards are fed downwardly, one by one, by picker l6 so that the leading edge is moved into cooperation with a pair of feed rollers l1 and thence downwardly past the pair of rollers Hi to a stacker mechanism (not shown). Between-the pairs of feed rollers are located analyzing brushes H! which cooperate with the contact roller 20 for sensing theperforations in the record cards for controlling tabulating mechanisms in accordance with the data sensed. Since such control circuits associated with the sensing brushes are not pertinent to the present invention they are not shown. The record cards are directed from one pair of rollers to the other past the sensing station (of which only one need be shown) by means of the card guide plates 2| and 22 which in the instant application should preferably be formed from suitable electrical insulating material. The guide plate 22 is provided with a pair of separated conducting plates 23 which can be centrally located therein with respect to the transverse length of the guideplate.

In Fig. 4 the disposition of the conducting plates 23 is clearly shown with respect to the central section shown of the guide plate 22. It is nowseen that as the coated cards progress from the pair of rollers l1 to the rollers H3 in succession, each card is fed past the conducting plates 23, the purpose of which will be described presently. For illustrative purposes, assume that the card feeding mechanism comprising the picker and feed rollers are operated by the motor 24 nism. and that upon deenergization of the motor circuit the card feeding means is rendered inoperative.

Operation of the machine closure of the switch 28 to connect an alternating current source to the primary winding of q transformer 29, the device 25 is rendered conductive permitting current to flow in its output circuitwhich includes the secondary winding of the transformer 29, coil of relay 30, call 3| (mounted on the core '32 which is common to-the said coil and coil 21), and anode and cathode elements of the device 25, energizing the said relay. Energization of the said relay maintains the associated contacts 33 in an open condition thereby preventing energization of the circuit connected to these contacts until the device 25 is rendered non-conductive. It was mentioned that the coil 3| is included in the output circuit of the device and under the conditions just described this coil is excited by the pulsating current flowing-in the said circuit. The pulsations are induced in the coil 21 which is connected in the grid circuit of the de ice and as long as no cards are opposite the plates 23, the grid circuit remains in the open condition which is'indicated by the separated conductingplates 23 and remains unaffected by the pulsations induced in coil 21. Upon effecting a closed circuit condition the voltage induced in'coil 21 is sufficient to bias the device so as to become non-iconductive.

The coils 21 and 3| which are mounted on the common core 32 are so arranged that when positive potential is impressed upon the anode element of the device 25, the induced potential impressed upon the grid element 26 is negative with by the. presence of a coated record card.- The maximum grid voltage will now be impressed upon the grid circuit and bias the device sufficiently so as to become non-conductive. As long as the device 25 is non-conductive relay 30 remains deenergized and the associated contacts 33 are closed to complete the circuit connected thereto.

Assume that it isdesired now to start the machine for automatic operation, the start key is depressed to close the contacts 34 and complete a circuit from the power supply conductors 35 and 36 to the coil of relay 31, energizing said relay and closing the associated contacts 38 which now connect the motor 24 to the power conductors. Operation of the said motor renders the card feeding means operative and causes the cards C to be. fed singly and successively through the card guides 2| and 22 past the conducting plates 23 and the card sensing station. As the 3 cards are fed past the plates 23 the grid circuit of the device 25 is completed as just described to Referring now to Fig. 5, the operation of the A machine will be described. The conditioning of the electronic device 25 and theassociated circuits will be described first. The control circuit of the device is shown to include the grid element 26, the conducting plates 23, and coil 21. It is assumed for the moment that no cards are being fed through the card guides of the machine. As long as this condition exists and upon cause deenergization of the relay 3D and closure of contacts33.

Upon closure of the contacts 33 a circuit is completed from conductor 35 to coil of relay 31 and contacts 33 to conductor 36. Upon establishment of this circuit, effecting energization of the relay 31 as long as cards are presented successively to conducting plates 23, the start key can be released now that the machine is condi-' tioned for continuous operation. For the type of record card controlled machines in which the cards are fed successively but the distance between the trailing edge of the first card and the leading edge of the second card is greater than the width of the conducting plates 23, cam controlled contacts 40 can be provided to establish a holding circuit for the relay 3'! ,through the said cam contacts and contacts 33 (controlled by the relay 31) so that the relay is maintained energized at those intervals when any portions of the successively fed cards would. not be in close proximity of the conducting plates 23.

Now, whenever a blank card, that is a card not provided with the conductive coating described, is fed past the conducting plates 23, or whenever no cards are presented'thereto, the grid circuit is opened and the biasing voltage is no longer impressed upon the grid element thereby permitting the device 25 to become conductive and thus effect energization of the relay 30 to open the type of machine referred to is capable of performing. These statistical operations comprise the sensing of the data disposed on the records to initiate control impulses which in turn are effective to control difierentially operable devices in accordance with the sensed data. Such statistical operations are described in detail in the aforementioned patent.

The open and closed grid circuit conditions are controlled by altering the capacity characteristics of the circuit. Whenever no cards are presented to the conducting plates, the predetermined distributed capacity in the grid circuit is such that the grid element remains unaffected by the pulsations induced in the coil in the grid circuit, however whenever coated cards are presented thereto, the capacity characteristics of the circuit are altered due to the capacity effect of the coated card with respect to the conducting plates so that the pulsations induced in the coil in this circuit are efiective to bias the said grid element described. I

The record card per seis claimed in the copending application Serial No. 277,973, filed June 8, 1939.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of 'the invention as applied to a single modification it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A control device for the .record feeding means of a record controlled statistical machine, said machine having means for successively feeding individual records, each record being provided with data designations and with a layer of conductive material extending over an area defined by the top and bottom edges of each record. said device comprising electron discharge means having input and output circuits, a pair of separated conducting plates in the input circult adapted to be capacitatively coupled by the presence of the conductive area ofthe record onposite thereto, means for guiding each record past the said plates, biasing means for impressing a biasing potential on the input circuit for rendering the electron discharge means non-conductive when the said conductive area of the record is opposite the plates comprising a plurality of inductively coupledwindings and a source of potential connected to said windings, and means in the output circuit controlled by the said discharge means for causing the operations of the record feeding means to be modified whenever records without the provisions of said areas of conductive material are presented to and fed past the said conducting plates of the device.

2. A control device for the record feeding means of a record controlled statistical machine, said machine having means for successively feeding individual records, each record being provided with data designations and with a layer of conductive material extending over an area defined by the top and bottom edges of each record, said device comprising electron discharge means having input and output circuits, a pair of separated conducting plates in the input circuit, positioned in close proximity to but without physically engaging the conductive area of a record adapted to be capacitatively coupled by the presence of the conductive area of the record opposite thereto, biasing means for impressing a biasing potential on the input circuit forcontrolling the conductivity of the discharge means when the said conductive area of the record is opposite the plates, and means in the ou put circuit controlled by the said discharge means for causing the operations of the record feeding means to be modified whenever records without the provisions of said areas of conductive material are presented to and fed past the said conducting plates of the device.

3. A control device for the record feeding means of a record controlled statistical machine, said machine having means for successively feeding individual records, each record being provided with data designations and with a layer of conductive material extending over an area defined by the top and bottom edges of each record, said device comprising electron discharge means having a grid control circuit and an output circuit. biasing means for impressing a bias potential upon the said grid circuit for controlling the conductivity of the discharge means, conducting means in the input circuit, disposed in close proximity to the path of the conductive area of the record, which conducting means are continuously influenced by the presence of the said area of conductive material on each record, while the latter is fed past the conducting means, by being bridged by the said conductive area through capacity eflect to permit the biasing means to be effective to impress a bias potential upon the grid circuit and thereby control the conductivity of the discharge means, and means in the output circuit controlled by the discharge means for causing the operations of the record feeding means to be modified whenever records without the provisions of said areas of vconductive material are presented to and fed past the said conducting plates of the device.

LAURENCE s. HARRISON. o'rro warmaun. 

